VINCENT BONSIGNORE: Tough day for a gambler like Ned Colletti

The notorious gambler in Ned Colletti crossed the finish line of Wednesday's major league trade deadline more than a little disappointed.

With so many teams around baseball clinging to the belief they are real contenders in the expanded playoff format and everyone else appraising the moderate trade chips they held as if they were rare pieces of art, the lack of trade activity grinded to a near halt.

From Kansas City to Milwaukee to New York and everywhere in between, teams were either hesitant to give up hope of securing a playoff berth or pricing themselves out of the market by asking too much in return for the slim pickings they made available.

Coupled with the fact more and more teams are locking up their young stars -- reducing the need to sell them off just before they hit free agency -- it was an utterly uneventful trade deadline.

And even though Colletti was sitting in an enviable position with his first-place Dodgers loaded across the diamond and secure in the knowledge All-Star center fielder Matt Kemp will return at some point in August, one of the game's great risk-taking GMs suffered through Wednesday like a Wall Street Junk bond broker sidelined by laryngitis.

Colletti didn't need to make a big deal -- the Dodgers made sure of that with their recent 27-6 surge to take over the lead in the National League West, powered by the sudden impact of Yasiel Puig, the emergence of Hanley Ramirez, steadiness of Adrian Gonzalez and a rebuilt bullpen that, for the time being, looks capable enough to withstand the pressure of a pennant chase.

But even if Colletti did want to make a bold move, there were none to be made.

And that left him restless.

"I like the action," Colletti said.

And there was very little of that Wednesday.

"I was a little disappointed when 1 p.m. came around," he said, wistfully.

Colletti typically approaches this time of year like a clean-up hitter would a ninth-inning at bat with a runner at second base in a tied game.

It's the one time during the season he can make an impact in reshaping, re-tooling or replenishing his ballclub -- this year in particular as the Dodgers try to tweak and fine tune for the looming playoffs run awaiting them this fall.

Over the years he's made dramatic deadline moves to add Manny Ramirez, Greg Maddux, Casey Blake and Ted Lilly.

Add in the subsequent waiver-wire trade period -- which Colletti has used to add Adrian Gonzalez, Carl Crawford and Marlon Anderson over the years -- he's shown a bold and daring nature that's generally benefited the Dodgers.

The key being he had willing trade partners offering legitimate talent and asking for reasonable packages in return.

As opposed to this year when various factors conspired to dry up the trade market save for pitchers Jake Peavey moving from the Chicago White Sox to the Boston Red Sox, Matt Garza moving from the Chicago Cubs to the Texas Rangers and Bud Norris going from the Houston Astros to the Baltimore Orioles.

"It was the slowest trade deadline in a long time," said Colletti, whose only move was to bolster the Dodgers catching depth by trading for Minnesota's Drew Butera, who was immediately optioned to Triple-A.

Other than that, it was a quiet day.

One that left Colletti looking forward to the upcoming waiver-wire period.

"There's still deals to be made out there," Colletti said. "And if there's a chance to help the club, we'll take a shot at it."

The hope being more teams will be willing to deal seriously as the contenders begin distancing themselves from the pretenders later in the season.

Because right now too many teams are convinced they are in contention for a playoff spot and hesitant to sell off key parts.

"There are a lot of teams that still feel they have a chance," Colletti said.

Mostly, that's the result of the second wild card spot now available in both leagues, providing more hope than ever to teams which normally would be sellers this time of year.

"It's changed the way a lot of teams are thinking," Colletti said.

The good news is the Dodgers weren't compelled to make a major move anyway.

About the only concern is the bullpen, although the recent emergence of Brandon League and the addition of hard-throwing youngster Chris Withrow has helped stabilize the relief corps.

They also added former San Francisco Giants closer Brian Wilson Tuesday, and if he has any gas left in the tank he could help down the stretch.

As a result, Colletti was dealing from a position of strength even as teams tried to fleece him for moderate relief help.

"The relative market for relief pitching, I thought, was not robust," Colletti said. "The asking price was really robust. I must have heard the same five prospects from us in every conversation. 'We'll take this guy and that guy. And those two and that two' and we weren't prepared to do that.

"It's a good thing we really didn't need to re-tool the bullpen," Colletti said. "Because it would have been really tough to do."